1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods of making write poles for perpendicular magnetic recording write heads.
2. Description of the Related Art
Perpendicular magnetic recording systems are utilized in computer hard disk drives. A typical perpendicular recording write head includes a trailing write pole, a leading return or opposing pole magnetically coupled to the write pole, and an electrically conductive magnetizing coil around the write pole. The magnetic fields of bits of stored information are oriented normal to the plane of the thin film of the media, and thus, perpendicular to the direction of a circular data track.
As one of the most important parts of the magnetic hard disk drive, the main pole of the magnetic write head can be manufactured by a dry pole mill process method, in which layers of magnetic materials (or layers of magnetic and non-magnetic materials) deposited (or sputtered) on the substrate are etched by ion mill process, and the magnetic write poles with either trapezoid or triangle cross-section shapes are then formed. Prior to the ion mill process, a high quality mask have to be prepared to serve as mask during the ion mill.
Unfortunately, during the dry pole milling process, any defect on the masking layers will negatively impact forming the magnetic write pole. Therefore, there is a need to effectively form the high quality masks and thus, the high performance magnetic write pole.